Porter Rockwell once said, “I never killed anyone who didn’t need killing.” A towering figure in the early history of the Mormon Church, Rockwell was the loyal bodyguard of LDS Church founder Joseph Smith and his successor, Brigham Young. Rockwell was the bloody hand of the early church, famously implicated in the assassination attempt of Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs.
Early church members despised Boggs for signing what became known as “The Extermination Order,” which called for evicting Mormons from Missouri by violent and deadly means. When investigators questioned Joseph Smith about these accusations and Rockwell’s involvement, Smith denied that it could have been Rockwell. When asked how he could be so confident, Smith replied… “[Boggs is] still alive, isn’t he?”
A reputed member of the Danites, a vigilante group mentioned in Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, Porter Rockwell was widely known as the church’s enforcer, “The Destroying Angel.” His stated policy was “always shoot first… that way they know you’re armed,” and he killed more outlaws than Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Tom Horn and Bat Masterson combined.
He was charged with murder or attempted murder three times but never convicted. Told by Smith that if “he never cut his hair no bullet or blade can harm thee,” Rockwell obeyed, like Samson of the Bible. The most famous picture of him is from a Wanted poster: he’s bald on top, but his hair falls over his shoulders, and his cruel eyes seem to follow you. In the end, Rockwell died of natural causes, awaiting trial for murder. He is buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.
“I NEVER SHOT AT ANYBODY. IF I SHOOT, THEY GET SHOT”
—Porter Rockwell, during the grand jury probe into the attempted assassination of Missouri Gov. Lilburn Boggs. He was not indicted.
Loyal to the End
Rockwell’s tombstone epitaph reads, “He was brave and loyal to his faith. True to the Prophet Jos. Smith. A promise made him by the prophet. Through obedience it was fulfilled.”
Originally Published in Salt Lake Metropolitan, A City Journals Publication.